The Banks of the Delaware River
"The Banks of the Delaware River" is a Christmas-themed sketch from the Warner Bros. animated television series Histeria! It is the only Christmas-themed sketch in the series' run and was featured in the episode "The American Revolution - Part I", originally broadcast on Kids' WB! on September 17, 1998. The sketch features a comedic telling of George Washington and his troops crossing the Delaware River, set to A Visit from St. Nicholas. Series regulars Father Time, Big Fat Baby, Loud Kiddington, World's Oldest Woman, and Miss Information also make cameo appearances in this sketch. Synopsis As the title suggests, the sketch opens on the banks of the Delaware River, where we find Father Time working as a Salvation Army Santa, accompanied by Loud Kiddington, as a town crier, declaring that it is 11:00 PM on December 24, 1776. At that point, George Washington is heard delivering rhyming narration in the style of A Visit from St. Nicholas as some of his American soldiers, seen sitting around a campfire, are fighting over a blanket. Washington himself arrives on skis and goes to relax inside his cabin headquarters, to the envy of his men. Washington states to the viewers that he is planning to strike a surprise attack on the Hessian Barracks in Trenton, New Jersey. However, since the American soldiers will have to cross the Delaware River to get there, Washington first has to go rent a boat. At the boat rental stand, the storekeeper, the World's Oldest Woman, tells Washington that he will need to pay a stack of hundred-dollar bills in order to rent her boats, and she will not take a check. After paying the World's Oldest Woman with a wheelbarrow full of money, Washington and his men make their way across the Delaware River. When dawn comes, though, they accidentally crash the boat into a rock in front of the shore. Later, inside the Hessian Barracks, one of the Hessians (who briefly takes over the narration at this point) overhears noise outside and goes to the door to see what's going on. When he opens the door, he sees dozens of giant gift boxes on the building's front lawn and immediately wakes his fellow Hessians, believing they were just visited by Santa Claus. However, when the Hessians tear open the gift boxes, it turns out that the gift boxes were a disguise used by the Americans, who overtake the Hessians and win the battle of Trenton. The sketch ends with Washington and his men riding off with the captured enemy soldiers, with Washington declaring "Merry Christmas to everyone, and hot cocoa for all!" Availability The episode containing the sketch, along with the rest of the series, was made available in the Histeria!: The Complete Series manufacture-on-demand DVD set, released by on July 12, 2016. Cast Note: Fetch, Cho-Cho, and Lucky Bob appear, but do not have speaking parts. External links * * * Category:Shorts Category:Warner Bros. Category:Originally aired on The WB Category:1998 releases